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Introducing 'Struck By Lightning' Star Roberto Aguire

Roberto Aguire is a 24-year-old Mexican Hollywood newcomer who is quickly making his name known in the film industry. By the end of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Aguire had already participated in a dance-off with Harry Potter actress Emma Watson and he swept some starlets off their feet by salsa dancing at the Latina's “Latinos in Hollywood” event this past October. He’s preparing for his film debut as an actor and producer on the acclaimed dark comedy Struck By Lightning, premiering in select cities on January 11, 2013.

Struck By Lightning is the motion picture vehicle written by Glee star, Chris Colfer, in which Aguire plays a foreign exchange student from El Salvador named Emilio. “Emilio is the school lothario,” Aguire said when describing his character. “He gets to hook up with all the girls in his grade and the grade above him and in the office and the receptionist. He loves it, but he has a dark secret, which is that he only knows 10 phrases in Spanish actually and he uses those ten phrases to seduce all the women. It’s insane.”

Aguire initially auditioned to play a Hungarian exchange student who only spoke Hungarian. Once he met with the director Brian Dannelly and screenwriter Colfer, it was decided that a rewrite was in order. Such is how Hungarian Emile became Salvadorean Emilio and Aguire became a producer on the project.

A proud Latino, Aguire’s work as an actor is rooted in the different places he’s lived all over the world. “I’m so lucky to be enriched by all the places I’ve lived in,” he said. After moving from Mexico to Switzerland when he was 12 years old, he attended New York University and graduated in 2011 with a double major in acting from the Tisch School of the Arts and economics. Following graduation, he made the big move to Los Angeles. “It’s really scary. It’s a big change. You know, you’re starting off your career and you know it might not happen in the first year, it might not happen in the first five years, it may not happen in the first 15 years,” he said of moving to L.A.

While he may be making his big screen motion picture debut in Struck By Lightning this January, Aguire is soaking up the limelight, while staying humble about his future. “You have to appreciate every second of it because at any moment, it can be taken away,” he said. “In five years, if I’m still acting and telling great stories, I’ll feel successful.”

Struck By Lightning will be available on iTunes and OnDemand on December 19, 2012 and in theaters in select cities on January 11, 2013. Watch a trailer for the film below!